Young Frankenstein - Review

Garrick Theatre, London


****

Music and lyrics by Mel Brooks
Book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan
Directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman

Hadley Fraser and Shuler Hensley

Not since the pairing of Bialystock and Bloom has there been a theatrical partnership to match that of Mel Brooks and Susan Stroman. He’s an irreverent comic genius who for 70 years has taken no prisoners in his mocking of life’s stereotypes and injustices while she is one of the most perceptive and assured director/choreographers of her generation. And so it is that their latest collaboration Young Frankenstein, recently arrived from Broadway to open at London’s Garrick Theatre, is another triumph.

Like The Producers before it, Young Frankenstein hails from a Brooks movie of some 40 years earlier with the veteran writer/director reframing the comedy-horror flick around his own composition of words and music. And much like Dr Frankenstein’s eponymous creature, Brooks (together with Stroman) has re-animated his story into exceptional musical theatre. If Sunset Boulevard is a sincere tribute to the romance of post-war Hollywood, then Young Frankenstein is an as-loving parody of the same time and place, but played for laughs. 

Snowflakes be warned, there are no “safe spaces” in this show as Brooks makes fun not only of cinematic genres, but also, and mercilessly, of men, women and for good measure exhumed corpses too. The jokes may be as corny as they are smutty, but Brooks knows just how far to dig in mining this rich and timeless seam of humour, throwing political correctness to the wind.

The plot (very) loosely follows the classic story, with Hadley Fraser as the fine-voiced young Dr Frankenstein leaving his slightly matriarchal fiancée Elizabeth played by Dianne Pilkington and setting off from New York (aboard the HMS Queen Mary Shelley, geddit?) to travel to his infamous grandfather’s castle in Transylvania.

Once there and in the heart of Europe, (and oh how Hollywood has, for decades, loved to view our continent as full of nightmarish monsters) the young Doctor meets a string of characters that are straight out of the 1950s B-Movie playbook

Ross Noble is Igor, the hunched assistant, Lesley Joseph plays Frau Blucher an older woman with a sinister past, while Summer Strallen is Inga whose character is largely a recreation of The Producers’ Ulla.

Noble’s talent lies in stand-up comedy - though he applies himself brilliantly to the scripted confines of Igor’s ineptness. Joseph however is quite simply an old-school comedy master. She works the room and with her big number He Vas My Boyfriend offers up a gloriously pastiche of Marlene Dietrich.

Strallen’s Inga sends the comedy straight back to the 1970s - gifted in song, dance and performance, her turn defines the cliché that Brooks has created for her.

There’s eye-watering stuff from Patrick Clancy who doubles up both as the village’s police Inspector as well as a Hermit who befriends the monster. Clancy is also a talented pro who’s worked with Brooks before - his timing is spot on, with slapstick that is as hilarious as it is offensive.

Notwithstanding the occasional lapse in pace, Stroman’s staging is inspired. Act 2 may contain some wittily brilliant tap routines that spoof Top Hat delightfully, but the first half’s number Hang Him Til He’s Dead sees the pitchfork-waving mob of villagers choreographed into an embarrassingly joyous hangman’s dance. And as for the horses that haul Dr Frankenstein’s cart to the castle, never has the equine form been staged or suggested with such ingenuity and comedy.

Perhaps the biggest accolade of the night is due to Shuler Hensley who plays The Monster. Only rarely seen on this side of the Atlantic (he was last in London in the 90s for an Olivier-winning turn as the monstrous Jud in the National Theatre’s Oklahoma) Hensley created The Monster on Broadway before touring with the show and he breathes a life into one of the canon’s most curious characters. His Monster has to evolve from being of virtually zero-intelligence, to a creature that’s far more sophisticated. To reveal any more would be to spoil - suffice to say that Hensley masters the transformation magnificently.

As this review is published, the producers have announced that the run is extending into late 2018. Hurrah! Young Frankenstein is a fabulous night out.

Booking until 29th September 2018

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan

Eugenius! - Review

London Palladium, London

Music, book and lyrics by Ben Adams and Chris Wilkins

Directed by Ian Talbot and Michael Jibson

For one night only Eugenius! played at the London Palladium in a concert premiere production of this new musical. As the (lavishly workshopped) show is now entering its final phase of development there is no star rating here, rather an assessment of the performance.

Eugenius! makes for a curious tale. Tracking an implausible yarn of two brothers separated at birth, this ain't no Blood Brothers, nor, with its focus upon geeky adolescents is it much of a Loserville either. Dipping in and out of a fictional world dreamed up by Eugene, there's a bizarre science fiction twist that sees (co-producer) Warwick Davis also play the Evil Lord Hector, who has now evolved into an extra-terrestrial bad guy out to wreak revenge on his earthling brother.

There's a love interest too, but overall, much like Lord Hector's return from across the galaxies, it's all a bit far-fetched, with the show lacking the ribald pantomime humour of I Can’t Sing!, (another show endowed with an exclamation mark in the title...) the last new British musical to play the Palladium. Is Eugenius! aiming at the 30/40-something audience for whom the 80s references maybe spot-on but who might expect much more meat in the narrative? Or is it aiming at a much younger audience, in which case some of the adult nuance is at best inappropriate, and at times mildly offensive? Either way, Eugenius! is a very lightweight offering with a story that needs some serious treatment and a running time crying out to be trimmed by at least 30 minutes.

Aside from a ghastly ticketing glitch that led to a 30 minute delay, the production values on the night were impressive. A stellar cast led well drilled ensembles from Laine Theatre Arts and Arts Ed, with Aaron Renfree choreographing some slick routines.

David Bedella as a cynical TV producer was his usual infernally wonderful self, with Amy Lennox and Summer Strallen sharing the honours as leading ladies in the show's real and fictional worlds. Fine work too from Norman Bowman, Daniel Buckley and Samuel Holmes in support, with Louis Maskell (in strong voice) leading as the eponymous Eugene.

Ian Talbot and Mike Jibson directing made decent use of the modest staging constraints imposed upon the production and credit to Andrew Ellis whose lightning designs throughout were consistently stunning.

Last night Eugenius! was well endowed with one of the finest companies in town, both acting and creative, but as it stands it has simply been rolled in glitter. This is a show that needs careful polishing.

A Damsel In Distress - Review

Festival Theatre, Chichester

****

Music and lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin

Book by Jeremy Sams and Robert Hudson

Based on the novel by P.G.Wodehouse

and the play by P.G. Wodehouse and Ian Hay

Directed and choreographed by Rob Ashford

Nicholas Farrell and Sally Ann Triplett

A Damsel In Distress is a new(ish) musical confection that feels like it's been around for years. Based on the P.G.Wodehouse story and drawing upon the Gershwin brothers' songs that were composed for the similarly inspired 1937 movie, Jeremy Sams and Robert Hudson breathe life into a collection of classic concepts.

In all honesty, the fable’s ridiculous plot defies both and credibility and description. George Bevan, a gifted American musical theatre composer falls for Maud Marshmoreton, a titled young Englishwoman, who is herself the ward of the fearsomely dragon-esque Lady Caroline. Maud's father Lord Marshmoreton is an elderly landed gent with a keen eye for both horticulture and women and who in turn is smitten by Billie Dore an American actress in Bevan’s most recent show. (Keep up!) Besides these paramours, there are yet more romantic shenanigans and all set in a tale that hops between London's Savoy Theatre and the crumbling Gloucestershire stately pile of Totleigh Towers, as the cultural differences that straddle the Atlantic are affectionately mocked throughout.

Making his Chichester debut, Rob Ashford directs and choreographs with his trademark vivacity and visual flair. In this show the tap doesn’t drip, it gushes. Ashford has ripped out the Overture, (evidently a late change as it’s listed in the programme) so Things Are Looking Up opens the show, setting the tone with a full ensemble tap routine. Other dance highlights include the French Pastry Walk – the first time that most people will have seen a cakewalk performed with real cakes. Fidgety Feet proves another absolute joy to watch whilst Stiff Upper Lip gloriously defines the very British attitude of sang-froid through it's polar opposite: the tap dance! Marvellous stuff.

Whilst the story maybe 100% saccharine, the songs are diamonds and the cast is platinum. Summer Strallen and Richard Fleeshman are Maud and Bevan. Nobody does young romantic better than these two and amidst Totleigh Towers’ faux Middle Ages splendour, the challenge that the upstart American offers to Maud’s rigid adherence to the social mores is perfectly matched.

Nicholas Farrell’s dotty Lord is a decrepit foil to Sally Ann Triplett’s feisty Dore, with Isla Blair’s matronly curmudgeon, Lady Caroline being another perfectly executed gem. (Though writers note – if shows continue to promote the trope of old men as priapically comic Lotharios whilst their female contemporaries are portrayed as harridan old maids, then what hope for sexual and age-friendly diversity? Such stereotypes need to become outmoded.)

Other delights include Melle Stewart’s housemaid Alice, finding her true love “above stairs”, Chloe Hart and David Robert’s hilarious kitchen-based duet and Desmond Barrit’s wonderfully withering Keggs, the Butler.

The show makes for a whirl through the songbook – the star numbers being A Foggy Day (Fleeshman, divine) and Nice Work If You Can Get It (Stewart and Strallen, likewise) whilst Farrell’s Mine, sung to his roses, is comedy gold.

Christopher Oram’s sumptuous set is a mille-feuille of crennelation, whilst from a lofty perch Alan William’s band makes fine work of the Gershwin classics.

Ideally suited to Chichester’s charms, A Damsel In Distress makes for a delightful night in the theatre.

Runs until 27th June 2015

Top Hat - Original London Cast Recording - CD Review

****

Music and Lyrics : Irving Berlin

Producer : Chris Walker

This review was first published on The Public Reviews.


The Original London Cast recording of Top Hat Is a delightful recording of a show that has brought a slice of 1930s Hollywood to the West End. Irving Berlin’s words and music proved to be the bedrock of one of the most successful films of that era, and the movie gave the world several musical numbers that have since been immortalised.

As well as songs, the film is famed for its stunning Busby Berkeley choreography and dance routines, with the legendary Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers being a massive act for Tom Chambers and Summer Strallen to follow. Chambers is of course one of the leading dancers of his generation and his casting in the stage show has been an inspired choice. However, on the strength of this CD, with the imagery of the show’s opulence and his own stunning footwork and tap dance stripped away, his voice needs more impact. Tuneful and clear throughout, though with an accent that is at times a little too forced, his numbers lack an “American Smooth”-ness that should be a strength of classics such as Cheek to Cheek along with Top Hat, White Tie and Tails and Putting On The Ritz.

Summer Strallen’s performance transfers effortlessly to the recording, in particular the sublime delivery of her number You’re Easy To Dance With. In a smaller but equally polished performance, the duo of Vivien Parry and Martin Ball sing Outside of That, I Love You with a deliciously sarcastic comic turn.

This 2012 recording is well produced and very easy on the ear. For those that have seen the show, you will love the CD for its aural recreation of the Aldwych Theatre’s magic. If you have not seen the production then the recording , replete with the authentic sound of much of Chamber’s tap work, is a lovingly crafted re-working of a Hollywood classic.

Released by First Night Records